Two years after terror attacks, U.S. Muslims work past the shock
September 9, 2003

Toms River, N.J. —
(AP) Within hours of the 2001 terror attacks,
the windows at the Masjid Bilal mosque were smashed, and someone
had left a message on the answering machine threatening to burn it
down.

In the weeks that followed, when the mosque's president and
imam, Mohamed Elmasry walked to a nearby store for coffee, people
driving past would scream curses at him, and yell, "Hey, bin
Laden!"

"It got to the point where I was afraid to even argue with my
neighbor if his dog came and peed on my lawn because he might
report me as a terrorist," Elmasry said.

But that was then. Now, two years after Islamic terrorists
hijacked four jets and killed more than 3,000 people, American
Muslims are re-emerging in more active, visible roles in society.

Some are teaching classes on Islam to non-Muslims, while others
organize voter registration drives, or speak out against laws like
the USA Patriot Act and its anti-terrorism provisions they consider
discriminatory.

Most of all, many have moved beyond the fear and isolation they
experienced shortly after the attacks to reclaim a place in this
country.

"In this society, with the way things are today, isolation is
like guilt," Elmasry said. "And we are not guilty."

More than 1,200 people, mostly Muslims from Middle Eastern or
southern Asian nations, were arrested and detained after the
attacks for months while federal authorities tried to determine
whether they were terrorists.

"There are two choices before the Arabs and Muslims in
America," said Osama Siblani, publisher of the weekly Arab
American News in Dearborn, Mich. "One is pack and leave, which is
not an option. The other is to stay and get involved. Most Muslims
feel this is the country they want to live and die in, the country
where their children are going to grow and prosper."

The Arab American Political Action Committee in Dearborn is
registering Muslims to vote, stressing the role they have to play
in the upcoming presidential election.

Local Muslims meet monthly with the U.S. Attorney for the
Eastern District of Michigan to keep the lines of communication
open, and they have met several times with regional immigration
officials as well.

The Council on American Islamic Relations started an ambitious
effort last year on the first anniversary of the attacks to have
educational materials about Islam placed in 17,000 public libraries
in the United States.

"In the first year after 9-11, we were pretty much in a
reactive mode, trying to state our opposition to terrorism and
showing we are not a fifth column in the U.S.," said Ibrahim
Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based civil rights
group. "Now, Muslims are realizing we really have no choice but to
become more active in defending our civil and religious rights. It
took the first year just to get out of that mode of shock."

The group also launched a nationwide advertising campaign
depicting American Muslims in various roles in society. One
included Dr. J. Aisha Simon, a family physician, wife and mother
who was shown examining a young boy with a stethoscope and
declaring, "I'm an American, and I'm a Muslim."

Islamic groups in California and elsewhere have held town hall
meetings with the FBI, conducted sensitivity training for local
police departments, and held rallies and public seminars on the
Patriot Act.

On Long Island, N.Y., the Roman Catholic diocese of Rockville
Center is producing a series of cable television programs with the
Indiana-based Islamic Society of North America called "Our Muslim
Neighbors" to explain Islam. The first show, to be aired in
October, deals with what goes on inside a mosque.

Elmasry, the Toms River imam, recently held a public forum on
the Patriot Act in this Jersey shore suburb, and was gratified to
see more non-Muslims than Muslims in the audience.

"I get involved in public. I have to," he said. "There is
still bias and prejudice against Muslims. It's up to us to change
that."